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Karen Reynolds
Karen Reynolds is the mother of Sean and Daniel Diaz, the ex-wife of Esteban Diaz, and the daughter of Claire and Stephen Reynolds in Life is Strange 2. She lives in Arizona. :For the image gallery, click here. To visit Karen's room, click here. Personality TBC Appearance In her photograph in Stephen's workshop (Episode 2), Karen has long, blonde hair and wears a grey earring and black clothing. In Episode 4, Karen has close-cropped hair and wears a blue jean jacket, a brown v-neck with zigzag patterns, blue jeans, and brown hiking boots, as well as a necklace holding a purple gem. Background Karen is the only daughter of Claire and Stephen Reynolds. She grew up in Beaver Creek with interests in art, poetry, and photography. Through the personal belongings found in her bedroom, she is implied to have not enjoyed life in her small town; she wrote poems and letters expressing her loneliness and desire to leave, owned a book about travelling the world, and kept a bus ticket from Oregon to New York hidden in her CD player. At some point in her life, Karen moved to Seattle, where she married Esteban Diaz and had two sons with him: Sean and Daniel Diaz. She loved Esteban deeply and didn't fight with him often; when they did, she would light a cigarette to calm down and he would "come over and ask for a drag". She often did activities with Sean, such as going camping in Vancouver with him alone and teaching him to ride because Esteban couldn't. After giving birth to Daniel, Karen began to feel as if "her own life was slipping away"; she talked about her feelings with Esteban and her parents over several months and attended family therapy, but came to the realization that she could never feel content with the life she had. Karen severed ties with her husband and family and started off to lead an independent life; although she wanted to contact them again multiple times, she ultimately decided to stay distant in hopes that they would forget about her and move on, only contacting Esteban a few times before disappearing entirely. After she left, Karen decided to pursue "some dreams" but ultimately failed. Although she went to New York, it "didn't really do her good", which eventually led to her finding a group of "like-minded people" in Arizona whom she stays in contact with today. Episode One - "Roads" Karen's existence is first made known when Sean examines her belongings in the household's basement. He questions with contempt why his father still keeps them around. An old bicycle belonging to Karen can be found in the garage. If Sean chooses to question Daniel before fighting their neighbor Brett Foster, Brett antagonizes the brothers by making a comment about how their mother walked out on them, which aggravates Sean to the point where he lashes out. If Sean chose to take a moment of calm on the bench in Mount Rainier National Park, Daniel will say, "I just wish the family was together," in reference to Esteban joining him and Sean on their journey. It is later revealed that Daniel was too young to remember Karen before she left. Later in the episode, when Brody Holloway asks Sean about his remaining family during their stop at Otter Point, Sean only says that she's "out of the picture." Episode Two - "Rules" While staying at their maternal grandparents' house, Daniel repeatedly expresses the desire to visit his mother's old bedroom, which Claire had expressly forbidden them from entering. During and after breakfast on a Saturday morning, Claire expresses bitterness and weariness towards the subject of her daughter. While in Stephen's workshop, Sean can come across a photo of Karen hidden in some drawers, which Stephen apologizes for leaving out. While searching through her bedroom, Sean and Daniel discover a recent letter addressed from Karen to her parents. Within it, she expresses concern about the boys following the recent events in Seattle and asks her parents to help them should they come across them, referring to them as "the only family they have" and leaving a post office box address to contact her with. During the brothers' subsequent confrontation with Claire, it is revealed that Karen left eight years ago. After leaving the Reynolds' house, Daniel keeps his mother's letter in his backpack and later asks Sean if they can look for her, which Sean refuses. Episode Three - "Wastelands" During the opening flashback in the Diaz household, Sean can enter Daniel's room and find Karen's old ID card for the Tortoise Sports Club in Tukwila, one of Seattle's bordering cities. Upon examining it, Sean says to himself, "Too bad we didn't have a clue she hated all of us." In the present day, after Finn heads back to their campsite and leaves the two brothers alone, Daniel asks Sean whether they could try to find Karen with the new information her letter gave them. Sean can choose to either try to be understanding or shut the idea down. Later on, after returning from the pot farm at sunset, Sean can mention to Finn that Daniel wants to visit his mother in Arizona. While Sean searches for items to train with at the lake, Daniel asks him what he thinks Arizona is like; when Sean asks why, Daniel replies that he's just curious. Episode Four - "Faith" Upon hearing from Jacob about Daniel being in a religious cult at Haven Point, Karen has made her way to this community. She is first seen when Sean gets kicked off the property, and she approaches him. As Sean turns around, she seems shocked to see he has an eye injury. Karen manages to convince Sean to come with her to the motel she is staying at, providing him with a clean shirt and boxers while she steps out for some supplies. As Sean explores the motel room (Room 11) while Karen is away, we can learn more about Karen, such as her preference for "low tech" (her old phone) and a wary nature (taping over the camera on her tablet). As Karen returns with supplies, she has also returned with Sean's favorite burger from a fast food outlet ("Double cheese, no onion, right?"). This shows that, even though she was absent for much of their lives, she hasn't forgotten the little things. She can also help Sean to clean and dress his eye using the supplies she has bought. In these supplies is an eye patch, which she gives Sean to wear from this point. Karen and Sean have an honest talk while at the motel, and she allows Sean to ask whatever he wants to ask her about why she left. During their conversation, she confides that she wasn't meant to be a wife or a mother. She thought she was supposed to, and she tried to pretend for many years. She tells him she wasn't happy, and the urge to leave became unbearable. She felt she had no other choice. When Sean was about 8, and Esteban's garage business was getting busy, she felt like her own life was slipping away. She felt like an empty shell. She tells Sean that she was honest with Esteban. They did family therapy, but it wasn't about him; it was her. She didn't want to live a lie, but she never stopped caring about her two sons and Esteban. She wanted to contact them so many times and almost did. Karen tried to live in New York, but it didn't really do her good. She pursued some dreams and failed and learned the lessons. She went on some soul searching to find her own way. "Family, religion, social norms... It's just all about security, after all." ... "But it all just looked like a sweet golden jail to me. I tried to escape that." She has been staying in Arizona where she thinks she has found her place in the world with her people. She believes she is now at peace with her decisions and thinks people should know who they are and not fake it for anybody. We learn from Sean that Karen used to do so much with him. He enjoyed when he went camping with her in Vancouver. Karen remembers that Sean always loved night skies. She shares a moment outside the motel with Sean, and starts to smoke. She tells Sean that Esteban hated when she smoked, because he didn't want her to die an early death. (Sean can join her in smoking if the player wishes him to.) (TBC) Relationships Family * Sean Diaz (son) - When Sean was approximately eight years old, Karen cut off contact with her family and left them behind, leaving him to develop bitterness and anger towards her for leaving Esteban to raise them on his own. Upon hearing of the events in Seattle, Karen sends a letter to her parents asking them to take care of him and Daniel should they come across them, telling them that they're "the only family they have left". When Sean was kicked out of the religious cult, Karen comes across him, and he gives her a cold shoulder before she convinces him to go with her, and explains her reasons for leaving, and steadily they slowly repair their relationship. Over the years, Karen still remembers what her son enjoyed as a child, such as stargazing and his preferred type of burger. * Daniel Diaz (son) - Around a year after giving birth to Daniel, Karen cut off contact with her family and left them behind. Upon hearing of the events in Seattle, Karen sends a letter to her parents asking them to take care of him and Sean should they come across them, telling them that they're "the only family they have left". * Claire Reynolds (mother) - Karen was disowned by her mother following the event that led to her estrangement from the family. Claire still expresses hurt, weariness, and anger towards the subject of Karen over eight years later, and can refer to her as having done something unforgivable towards the rest of the family. The one memento Claire keeps of Karen is her milk teeth inside her jewelry drawer. * Stephen Reynolds (father) - After she cut ties with her family, Stephen remains sympathetic towards Karen and keeps old mementos of her hidden from his wife, including a photo of her as a child wearing his firefighting gear. He tells Sean that, although he cannot approve of "what she's done", he understands her reasons for doing so. * Esteban Diaz (ex-husband, deceased) - Karen used to live with Esteban in Seattle, where they had two children together. According to Sean, Karen contacted Esteban a few times after her disappearance before cutting off contact completely. Upon hearing of the events in Seattle, Karen sends a letter to her parents telling them that she was heartbroken over the incident. Friends * Emma (pen pal, former) - Emma envied Karen for being an only child and having a big house all to herself, while she had to put up with annoying siblings. Enemies * Lisbeth Fischer Theories *Karen's reasons for leaving the Diaz family has been debated by fans since the release of "Roads"; some speculate that Karen abandoned the family upon discovering her own supernatural powers, while others suggest that she left for purely selfish reasons, as indicated by Sean's attitude and comments about her throughout the first two episodes. *Karen has an amethyst in her bedroom, which is said to strengthen a user's clairvoyance due to its association with the Crown Chakra which rules higher states of consciousness. It is speculated that this may be a clue that Karen is a seer or prophet and could provide an explanation as to why she left. It is also a stone to help deal with emotional turmoil and grief. **The photos in her room of random things could have been used to practice her far sight ability. *Some fans speculate that Karen may have left her family to join a religious cult, which would explain Claire's resentment towards her as rooted in her strong religious beliefs. Several references to church recruitment can be found within previous episodes; in The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit, a pastor named Derek calls Chris Eriksen to spread the word about the Universal Uprising Church, and in "Roads", a recruitment poster for True Cornerstone Church can be found at Bear Station. Karen also put up a cross in her room, indicating that she is a religious person. *During the campfire sequence in Episode 3, Jacob states that his old religious community had an “intense” female reverend. Some fans speculate this reverend to either be Karen, who shows several signs of interest in spirituality within her room and caused her devoutly Christian mother to disown her for reasons unknown; or Karen's pen pal, Emma, who mentions living in a "boring" area and having a large family, possibly either in reference to the community or due to contraception being against their religion. * Due to Arizona being located on the Mexico–United States border and the closest state to Puerto Lobos, some speculate that Karen's new home will be a destination in Episode 5. * Some speculate that Karen possesses pyrokinesis. During the climax scene at the church, an approach to her face is showed right before the fire begins spreading further. After that, she is seen pressing her stomach with her hand while bending her back, which can be a sign of weariness because of doing a recent effort. In addition, during a previous scene she starts a fire as well to distract Nicholas from Sean and Jacob, and her methods for doing so weren't entirely clear. It is also speculated that Daniel has powers because he inherited them from her mother. Memorable Quotes Trivia * Karen's bear, Ulysses, is named after the Greek hero and protagonist of , a story about his long and fantastic journey to return home from the Trojan War. * Karen's book " " that Daniel reads in her bedroom is a real novel by and is a story about cross-country travel. It was said in an interview with Co-Creative Director and Writer Michel Koch that this book was one of the inspirations for creating Life is Strange 2.Why Life is Strange 2 is ditching Arcadia Bay for its radically different road trip (August 21, 2018) * Despite locking away most of Karen's pictures and belongings inside her bedroom, Claire still keeps a small case of her milk teeth inside of her jewelry drawer. * Karen owns the music single " " by the band . The song is about a man who asks his girlfriend's father for his daughter's hand in marriage; when the father refuses, the man tells him that he will marry the daughter anyway. Because the song was released in 2013, it is rather odd that it would be in Karen's teenage room. The music CD could be a reference to Karen's father Stephen, who might not have initially approved of her relationship with Esteban. *Karen has an amethyst in her bedroom, and Sean comments on her being into stuff. In New Age mythology, amethysts are used to strengthen a user's clairvoyant abilities (far sight and prophecy). This may imply that Karen either has powers herself or was trying to obtain them. ** The amethyst could also be her birthstone for the month of February, which would make it her personal "healing" stone. ** A stone that large would be very valuable and expensive, and it's odd that Karen did not take it with her to continue using if she truly believed in its power. She may have worried about theft wherever she was going and simply trusted her parents to keep it safe. * Karen's hobby of taking random photographs may be a reference to Max Caulfield doing the same thing in the first Life is Strange game. * Karen's carving on her bed stand, which depicts a "Exit doorway to somewhere else" is a reference to Chloe Price's "Hole to Another Universe" graffiti in the original game. ** Like Chloe, Karen wanted to escape her family and her hometown. * A QR code that can be found on Karen's sports club membership card during the opening flashback in Episode 3 contains the words "work hard mustard big", which is the slogan of Hawt Dawg Man. * She smokes, a hobby that Esteban hated. * When Sean is accessing Karen's tablet at the Sand Snake Motel, the camera is covered with a small piece of tape. Perhaps Karen is paranoid or somebody has been trying to protect her whereabouts. * Apps/icons on Karen's tablet are seen for a split second before the browser opens. Among these appears to be a launcher for the Hawt Dawg Man game. Gallery Photos Study_Karen2.png|A photo of Karen that her father keeps in his study. ("Rules") Young_Karen_photo.png|A young Karen wearing her father's firefighting gear. ("Rules") Karen_Claire_Stephen_family_photo.png|Karen standing with her parents. ("Rules") Karen_-_Sports_Club_ID.png|Karen's old ID card for Tortoise Sports Club. ("Wastelands") References ru:Карен pt-br: Karen Reynolds Category:Characters (Season 2) Category:Major Characters (Season 2) Category:Female Characters (Season 2) Category:Mentioned Characters (Season 2) Category:Season 2 Category:Female Characters Category:Diaz Family Category:Episode 2: Rules Characters Category:Characters Category:Major Characters Category:Mentioned Characters Category:Episode 4: Faith Characters